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Author:HARSH GUPTA
Business Partner of ICICI Prudential

"Four Wives"

Friday 03rd, October 2008

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There was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.

He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He's very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some other men.

He too, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant's confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help him out and tide him through difficult times.

Now, the merchant's 1st wife is a very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.

One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, "Now I have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I'll be alone. How lonely I'll be!"

Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I loved you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No way!" replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word.

The answer cut like a sharp knife right into the merchant's heart. The sad merchant then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No!" replied the 3rd wife. "Life is so good over here! I'm going to remarry when you die!" The merchant's heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, "I always turned to you for help and you've always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?" "I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!" replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can only send you to your grave." The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.

Then a voice called out : "I'll leave with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go." The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the merchant said, "I should have taken much better care of you while I could have !"

Moral :

Actually, we all have 4 wives in our lives

A. The 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it'll leave us when we die.

B. Our 3rd wife ? Our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they all go to others.

C. The 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they had been there for us when we're alive, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

D. The 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of material, wealth and sensual pleasure.

Guess what? It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps it's a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to wait until we're on our deathbed to lament

Comments

Comment 1: By chuni kalra on 21st Nov 2008

Hi harsh, this is very good moral story, We learnt from this
story only things that we just love our soul not body, the body must die one day

Comment 2: By Madhavdas Shashikant on 20th Nov 2008

A really touching story.
Keep posting.

Thanks & Regards,
Shashi

Comment 3: By Senthlkumar Chandran on 20th Nov 2008

Superb Moral. Have concerns towards ur family also..! Dont run away from ur personal responsibilities being engrossed on official responsibilities

Comment 4: By Praveen Murthy on 20th Nov 2008

Nice parable! However the soul can neither be "cultivated" nor "strengthened". It is eternal and without attributes,form and it is our true "self". What the author means here is that our efforts should be directed in pursuing our real "Self" rather than squandering them on evanescent entities.

Comment 5: By Murali Krishna Yenepalli on 20th Nov 2008

Excellent write up... SAHAJA YOGA is the only practical and scientific way to feel and experiment with your self without running away from the responsibilities, without loosing your wealth, without loosing your beauty etc...

Log on to "www.sahajayoga.org" to know more.

Comment 6: By Uday Kadam on 19th Nov 2008

Really good....!!!

=UDay

Comment 7: By srikanth vullengula on 19th Nov 2008

marvellous and morality i hope harsh u will send more life facts we expect from u really u r giving such wonderful information thnx a lot

Comment 8: By Dipak Nilange on 18th Nov 2008

Excellent write up

Comment 9: By Hardeep Kumar on 11th Oct 2008

Good Read...But its always easier to preach than act. A good effort by you Harsh. Its enough if we understand the essence of life. Everybody will be better individual.

Comment 10: By sharmila parvin on 11th Oct 2008

brought out well about life .good

Comment 11: By Satish Kapoor on 09th Oct 2008

Nice advice, it is never late in learning.

Comment 12: By MAHESH KUMAR on 08th Oct 2008

A Good morale told in a better way!!

Comment 13: By Subhan Baba on 06th Oct 2008

HI Harsh Gupta your story is heart touching and i will hope atleast a few can change there mind set

Comment 14: By Venkit Ramani on 05th Oct 2008

Good one friend. Nice & simple but informative.
RVR

Comment 15: By pravitash tiwari on 05th Oct 2008

very good story. Moral:- just run away from ur responsibilities n become sage.

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